Run your bots on your own server

One command installs everything on a Linux server you control: Docker, the Bottly runtime and a small background service. Your bots then start and stop from the Bottly dashboard as usual.

What you need

A server with Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora or similar) and root access
At least 1 GB of memory and 5 GB of free disk space
Outgoing internet access — nothing needs to be opened to the world

Step 1 — get your pairing code

The code connects the server to your account only. It is single-use and expires after 10 minutes, so it is safe if someone looks over your shoulder.

Step 2 — run one command on the server

Connect to the server (SSH) and paste this. The first run takes a few minutes because it prepares the bot runtime.

curl -fsSL https://bottly.xyz/api/public/hosting/install.sh | sudo bash -s BOTTLY-XXXX-XXXX

Replace BOTTLY-XXXX-XXXX with the code from step 1.

Step 3 — pick this server for a bot

Within a minute the machine shows as online in Bottly. Open a bot, go to Settings → Hosting, choose your server and save. Then press Start on the bot page.

Files

install.sh — the installer above
agent.js — the background service
runtime source — what the server builds and runs

None of these files contain secrets. After pairing, your server asks Bottly for its own runtime configuration and stores it locally with restricted permissions.

If something goes wrong

The machine stays offline: Check the service: systemctl status bottly-agent and journalctl -u bottly-agent -n 50.
The bot does not start: Look at the runtime container: docker logs --tail 100 bottly-runtime. The same lines also appear on the bot's Logs page.
The code expired: Generate a new one in step 1 and run the command again.
Remove the server: systemctl disable --now bottly-agent, then remove it in the bot's hosting settings.